News, Views and Analysis

Words and deeds: time to juxtapose

Some Israeli Arabs have also aligned with the global jihadist movement after exposure to Islamist material on the Internet. For example, two Israeli Arabs from the town of Jaljulya in northern Israel were arrested for planning al-Qaeda-inspired attacks against Israeli military targets. The two had learned al-Qaeda philosophy from the Internet, as well as how to produce an explosive device.

But political assassins in America? They’re utterly impervious to the prevailing eliminationist political rhetoric. They always act alone, they’re mentally unstable, they live in a political sensory deprivation tank. No one is responsible:

Those who try to connect Sarah Palin and other political figures with whom they disagree to the shootings in Arizona use attacks on “rhetoric” and a “climate of hate” to obscure their own dishonesty in trying to imply responsibility where none exists….To be clear, if you’re using this event to criticize the “rhetoric” of Mrs. Palin or others with whom you disagree, then you’re either: (a) asserting a connection between the “rhetoric” and the shooting, which based on evidence to date would be what we call a vicious lie; or (b) you’re not, in which case you’re just seizing on a tragedy to try to score unrelated political points, which is contemptible. Which is it?

Which is it, indeed. The defensiveness of conservatives when their radioactive rhetorical chickens come home to roost is as predictable as Old Faithful. Just don’t accuse them of consistency.